Honda Accord CVT Problems

Comments

I purchased a 2013 Honda Accord Sedan Sport. I noticed if you take the car to about 20mph and then apply the brakes gradually as if creeping up to a stop sign you will feel a jerking motion before coming to a complete stop. I'm also noticing a sluggish feeling when accelerating slowly around 20mph. It does not happen if you accelerate quickly. I think it might have to do with the CVT Transmission.

Hello everyone. I've been driving a 2013 Honda Accord Sport CVT I purchased September 19 (over 2 months). Overall, I am absolutely thrilled with the car at this time. The Sport model, in particular, is a screaming deal. I paid 23K$ plus tax, tags.As this is an "issues" column, I do have a few...

The aforementioned CVT issue at around 20mph under light acceleration may be real, although I felt it was fairly imperceptible on my car. As I have over 3K miles on it, I'll check it again as another poster said it was gone by 2K miles. Obviously for me, it wasn't a major issue but I'll check into it for y'all.

Rather, my biggest gripe is with the infotainment system (I'm a software engineer). It all feels pretty alpha/beta in the whole system for many reasons:

1) I set the Trip A to reset after each fill-up. Well, it works, kinda. Except the avg fuel economy is not retained under Icon #2 (historical Trip A)!!! It works fine with other reset options, including manual, but not after a fuel tank fill-up. Hello Honda software dudettes?

2) I have a very late model Android phone and have issues with both Pandora loading/starting under Bluetooth (inconsistent), proper phone directory sync (it can mix up people's entries), voice recordation for speed-dial (it labels some entries kinda wacko-like and can't be manually edited!). Indeed, I have multiple phones synced, but even after 'Factory reset' from the Other options menu, is still getting confused!

3) Android USB MTP not supported. Okay, Google bungled that one, but still! How hard can it be to provide an MTP driver inside the car?

4) Bluetooth sound relay is inconsistent and/or slow.

5) Why can't I activate the rear camera manually?

6) Too much lawyerish nonsense, non-evident customization options, etc. As I said, feels like beta software. The first two issues issues above being UNACCEPTABLE.

Oh yes, the Econ button is pretty much junk marketing. Maybe, just maybe, I like to use it on hilly roads with the Cruise Control ON as it may allow for a less jerky/immediate acceleration which is mostly not desired following traffic on a hilly country road.Overall, it just makes the car react more dully and I haven't seen any fuel consumption benefit at all! Granted, unless I'm driving sporty, I'm a particularly smooth driver that may use the breaks in corners just about almost never as all just flows at optimal speeds for my intention. Nevertheless, I think that button is a gimmick.

For a 2013 Honda Accord EXL w/Navi, I was quoted $27,684 + $790 destination fee + $369 document fee + $199 mandatory window etching fee + taxes. Total is $29,042 + taxes. Any thoughts on whether this is a good deal? Do you think prices will be lower in March 2013?

I'm new to this forum and came upon it tonight. I just purchased a 2013 Honda Accord EXL w/ NAV 2.4L from Lee Honda in Auburn, Maine. The salesman misquoted a vehicle without air and we had been talking about a vehicle with air. This was the last of the month and they wanted to sell me a vehicle. The sales manager asked if I could give him a chance to see if he could get what I wanted. I gave him the color and inside trim color of my choice. He came back with $27,799.00 plus $294.00 Doc. fee. I pick up my the new car tomorrow afternoon. This was far below what other dealers had quoted me. I am concerned about the transmission problems that has been discussed here. The vehicle I test drove tonight did not seem to have that issue.

I have a one month old 2013 honda accord V6 no navigation. I started it yesterday and only sound coming from radio was garbled screeching, metalic static sound with music greatly muted in background. There was also new sound from dash, a steady buzzing or humming, completely audible like a relay or contact was being shorted. After driving 15 min. home with this occuring, I shut down car, Upon restart the problem was gone. I read in this forum this has occured for some other V6 no navigation owners. I feel like this is going to recur. Does anyone else have this problem?

I purchased the same car with Navi. I've experienced the exact same problem twice. In reading other Honda blogs we are not alone. However, it's still to new of a problem for techs to determine cause for now. Hopefully soon.

1) I checked the issue of jerkiness at low speed / minimal gasoline influx. It hasn't disappeared, but on my car (3K+ miles) is really not what I consider something I would need to get fixed (=not very noticeable). My concern is only whether the belt in the CVT may be possibly running under non-optimal conditions (?) I have the feeling, though, that because the car is otherwise so smooth, it's possible that people driving grandpa-style all the time may notice more acutely that the silky smooth is sort of missing at 25mph !?

2) Factory reset of Infotainment seems to have not made any difference, even with only one phone configured (paired) to it. And the pairing process each time you enter the car seems to be worse. The cold snap (28 degrees F) we're having nights in Central Virginia right now may have something to do with that...

3) Another bug (this one, an interface logic bug): to set the temperature of the climate control while the fan is off - yes! that is a normal function of any car, that is heating the incoming air from outside at speed while fan is off - a user must turn on the fan to gain access to temperature control (!?!) That's nonsensical. Also, the Auto climate control hates to regulate the fan speed until it fully gets to the set temperature, which is not optimal, especially when heating. It should ease off the fan speed the closer the temperature is being reached. If that's what it's doing (?) then that function needs to be optimized as I always intervene manually before the car does.

Honda transmissions have had a record of excellent reliability for many years in Consumer Reports. From 2006 through 2011 in both the problem categories of "transmission major" and "transmission minor" the Accord has had the highest possible rating every year. Consumer Reports gets its ratings from surveys filled out by thousands of owners. That's a reliable method of determining reliability. What's your reference? The fact that you had a problem or you know some people who may have had a problem is meaningless in statistical terms. I have owned 45 cars, 6 of them Hondas. My personal experience is that short life expectancy from the brakes has been a recurring problem. I would consider my experience irrelevant, except that Consumer Reports also lists the brakes as the weak point. As for the CVT issue I can say that I did not experience it on my test drive. I did like the Honda CVT better than the 2013 Altima I also test drove. The Altima had no hill hold downshift ability, while the Honda did. I believe that enough people have reported on the Honda CVT issue to make it a concern. I would wait to see if it turns into a reliability promlem. I agree with one other comment I read which suggests that there is inherent risk in buying a car in its first year after a new design.

In all likelihood, it could simply be a software 'firmware' update. I have no idea whether Honda reads columns like these, however if I were in charge of their engineering dept (engine [not likely!], software, chassis, transmissions, design), I would consider these kinds of forums as a Gold Chest for improvements!

All complex designs benefit from 'agile development', which in simple terms includes rapid improvements from customer experiences. So yes, version 1.0 is always a risk. I always say I'll avoid these, however when it comes to cars, I mostly prefer the newer model! I'm weak when it comes to that. For electronics, I pretty much always buy at the sweet spot of development.In other words, if you can wait, next year's Accord will most certainly be better fine-tuned!Brakes - me too, I've owned 5 Honda cars (same amount of motorcycles) and their brakes tend to be kinda weak and prone to issues such as irregular pad wear...Transmissions - have always seemed a strong point at Honda. In fact, as you, I tried the excellent Altima 2013 but Honda's CVT sold me due to its more 'natural' feel...

I have just purchased the EX-L 4 Cyl version, I live in Mexico and in the first day i was playing with the Audio option and suddenly this same static noise cames. After turning the car Off and On it disappear, I have experienced 3 times this "bug" in the 3 days of ownership I have. This definitely is an issue and I will file a report to the dealer.

Other issue I found is that when I release the acceleration pedal and the speed goes down from aout 25 miles to 15 miles, it feels some king of "bumpy", I think this has something to do with the CVT transmision. It just feel weird.

I have a 2013 Honda Accord Sport with CVT for about 1 week. So far, the vehicle drives better than my 2012 Accord EX 5sd automatic. It handles better and nimble. It's quieter and has much better quality and more features than my 2012 EX.

The transmission is very smooth. There's no Jerk or hesitation. The vehicle accelerates 0 to X linearly. The transmission feels very natural. It stops very smoothly as well. No stutter or sudden acceleration during the stopping of the vehicle. My 2012 EX has to down shift to a lower gear before stopping which some time causes a sudden but small jerking or acceleration. The 2012 Accord EX delays acceleration when I step on the gas. My 2013 Accord Sport has no such issue. It just goes. The only issue I have is a small rattle coming from the steering wheel during driving on rough surfaces. That was it. I think the dealer can take care of this easily.

I just purchased a 2013 accord EX myself and am having the same problem of the jerking motion with the brand new car. It is worse if you start the car cold and just try to drive off, once the car was jerking really bad and its a brand new car!

I thought it's something to do with the new car, so started to idle the car a little in cold weather before driving it, the problem did lessen but still there. This is my 4th accord in a row and must say I am a little disappointed with the way it drives.

Hi, I live in Canada and got my car around 3 weeks ago.....happy BUT some issues!

** I have had the stereo "screeching" problem 3 times, once it didn't go away after the 1st re-start. - weird problem.

**Squeak under front drivers side wheel..

** Bump where one of the leather sections joins on the steering wheel....really annoying - Honda are replacing the whole steering wheel.

** The lane change camera didn't work once - corrected when re-started.

** The display screen (top one) auto dimms sometimes....went really dark....don't know if this is normal, corrected itself when I fiddled with it.

** Some "dirt" "bump" under the paint on the rear passenger side window, small but noticeable.....Honda said they would have to re-paint the whole back half of the car to fix it....they are willing to do this under warranty but would need the car for 3 days and would not provide a rental. They also talked me out of doing it as "factory paint" is better??? There is another small bump just above the same window...small but ......................... <---Anyone have an opinion on this?

Not sure what to do about the paint. The other problem I will address with Honda when I change the steering wheel.

I still like the car...but expected a little higher QC checks, especially considering the Japanese as so quality minded.

If you can live with the flaws in the paint, the best advice is to leave it alone. I hate to see a brand new car re painted. What if the colour is a shade off? You will notice this far more than a bump. When you trade the car in, in a few years you will not get one penny less for a small paint defect. Granted the paint should be perfect on a new car, but things happen to any mass produced vehicles.

For those that have memory seats in the 2013 Honda Accords, it would seem that once you press the star/stop button to stop the car and exit, the seat should automatically move back and allow easier access out and then back into the car. Then when you get back into the car, when you press Start/Stop again, the seat will automatically go back to its last setting. That is how memory seats work on MOST cars. The way the Honda seats work makes it difficult since if the previous person driving the car was short, then it would make it much more difficult to enter the car without moving the seat back for someone taller.This does not happen with the new Accords. Just wondering if that is true for those who have this option in the Accord.

Just purchased 2013 Accord Touring Sedan two weeks ago. This is my first Honda product and the safety items included on this car & Honda reputatuion for building a good product influenced my decission. Two concerns. #1) when in the Eco mode and letting up off gas pedal to slow down for traffic I have noticed that the car will drop in speed dramtically. It feels as if the brakes were being applied. I have only noticed this when the speed is 25mph or less. I noticed drops in speed of 7-9mph. Should I be concerned? #2) Radio having heavy static on XM/FM regardless of station. When I stopped and started car again it went away. This occured twice. Has anyone had a similar experience? Thanks

I purchased a 2013 sport with CVT on October 10. I have experienced some small shuddering in the CVT at low speed acceleration but after 1400 miles they have decreased and it is not really noticeable anymore. My concern/issue is with the front and rear hood, doors and trunk gaps. They are the biggest gaps I have seen on any model of accord or Honda in general for that matter this being my 9th accord starting in 1983. My right exhaust pipe is over a 1/4 inch lower than the left. The gaps are the worst between the front and rear doors and left side of the trunk lid measuring 1/4 inch/6+ millimeters wide for the trunk lid and right at 6 mm between the front and rear doors. I watched an American Honda infomercial on Youtube about how low they have the gap tolerances. I laugh every time because the white Accord the guys are standing next to has pretty big gaps on the left side of the trunk lid. The guy in charge of gap tolerance says the standard used to be 3 mm but they have it down to 1mm. I realize now that he must be talking about the tail lights, headlights and bumper to fender fitment but come on, he should not generalize " body panel tolerance". Is my new Accord just "unique" or are others experiencing the same inconsistency in their 2013 Accords? This new Accord is the best yet but I am not happy with theses huge gaps. I'm meeting with the regional manager next week at the dealership but there's not much he will be able to do. What really drives me nuts is the exhaust alignment. If they don't fix that I will be pissed. The rest I can live with.

I have noticed a lot of autumn leaves getting in the gaps between the hood, the front fenders and the windshield wiper crevice area. But they don't get into the engine bay. There's only one misalignment on my car: between the driver's and read passenger doors, there's maybe 1mm difference when seen from the driver's side outside mirror. Also, the bottom of the driver's door has maybe 1mm or less difference with the lower side carriage. The paint is very rich, almost pearl purple at night. I think she looks great! Although neither our Honda Element, nor Fit Sport had the leaves issue, which is kinda weird.

This has happened to me.. I realy dont mind ,It also happens when I'am driving under normal conditions,, I believe thats when the cylinder diactivation kicks in and goes from 6 to 3 you will see a reduction in speed,, kind of of saves on the bracks is how I look at it . Heavy static and backup camera goes on while you are driving, this has happened to me 3 times ,,,And I heard the static 2 times when I started the car and dint have anything on got an electrical buzz had to stop and start the car again .... backup camera just yesterday my wife asked if the backup camera is supposed to go on while driving,she though that she had done something wrong when in fact she had just made a right turn and the backup camera came on and stayed on ,said she had to stop the car and restart it. I will be seeing my dealer very f****n soon ...... I have owned the car for over 2 months I luv the car , but dealing with this is pissing me off .........

Since I started this thread about the CVT jerking, I'm following up with an update.

I have around 2900 miles on my car now. I thought the frequency of the jerking CVT at low speeds was diminishing, and in fact, we could not reproduce the problem the day I took it to the dealer to test about two weeks ago. Since then, I have felt the issue off and on, so I took it back to the dealer yesterday. They drove it and captured the problem in an electronic snapshot. Then they applied a software update from Honda and drove it again to take another snapshot. They could not reproduce the problem on that short test drive, so the Service Manager and I took it for another test drive. We could not reproduce the problem again either, but that was just a short test. The Service Manager said that the Honda rep he talked to at Honda America said they have applied this fix on a few cars and it seems like it might have addressed the issue, pending further feedback. So far, so good for me, in the three or four times I've driven since yesterday. Honda America will analyze the snapshot log files my dealer sent them yesterday.

So, my advice to others who have concerns about this, or other similar concerns, is to 1) take it to the dealer to see if they have an update or can do anything about your issue, and if not then 2) send a letter/fax to Honda America explaining the problem and the steps you've taken and request an investigation. My experience so far has been positive. I have had at least two calls from Honda America expressing interest, trying to understand the issue, and encouraging me to get the car tested. I have also had calls from the dealer service manager, who is getting questions from Honda America, also encouraging me to bring it in so they can test and hopefully resolve the issue.

I'll post another update later, to confirm or clarify if the problem seems resolved, and to confirm there are no harmful side effects from this software tweak to the CVT performance. Time will tell.

I'm glad others are posting their experiences here; it is helpful. I encourage everyone to engage Honda dealers and Honda America in good, clear, dispassionate communication about your issues, and hopefully that will lead to resolutions for you as well. Of course, your mileage may vary...

Have about 6000 miles on my 2013 accord 4cyl with CVT. Problem with jerking at low speeds getting worse. Need to take to dealer but thats such a pain. Very disappointed i paid extra to ge a Honda and have issues already. Hopefully their service will be as good as their rep is. Also getting a knock when i stop fast and take a right turn, like brakes or tranny is locking up a little then it releases.

Today I refueled and instead of starting the car right up I did this instead and the system dropped down the miles and mpg information.

On last refuel I got back in and just turned key to start. Today I stopped at on and let it load. It didn't reset. Then I started.The system reloaded. Reset trip to zero due to refuel and dropped down the mpg and total miles for that tank.

So now I have one tank with no mpg info and one with on the previous section of screen. Seems like an easy work around!